Design & Preparations Continue for the USA’s New CVN-21 Super-Carrier

Some nations have aircraft carriers. The USA has super-carriers. The FrenchCharles De Gaulle Classnuclear carriers displace about 43,000t. India’s newVikramaditya/ Admiral Gorshkov Classwill have a similar displacement. The future BritishCVF Queen Elizabeth Classand related FrenchPA2 Projectare expected to displace about 65,000t, while the British Invincible Class carriersthat participated in the Falklands War weigh in at just 22,000t. Invincible actually compares well to Italy’s excellent newCavour Class(27,000t), and Spain’sPrincipe de Asturias Class(17,000t). The USA’s Nimitz Class and CVN-21 Gerald R. Ford Class, in contrast, fall in the 90,000+ tonne range. Hence their unofficial designation: “super-carriers”. Just one of these ships packs a more potent air force than many nations.

As the successor to the 102,000 tonNimitz Class super-carriers, theCVN-21 programaims to increase aircraft sortie generation rates by 20%, increase survivability to better handle future threats, require fewer sailors, and have depot maintenance requirements that could support an increase of up to 25% in operational availability.

Nimitz Class cutaway

The combination of a new design nuclear propulsion plant and an improved electric plant are expected to provide 2-3 times the electrical generation capacity of previous carriers, which in turn enables systems like an Electromagnetic Aircraft Launching System (EMALS, replacing steam-driven catapults), Advanced Arresting Gear, and integrated combat electronics that will leverage advances in open systems architecture. Other CVN-21 features include an enhanced flight deck, improved weapons handling and aircraft servicing efficiency, and a flexible island arrangement allowing for future technology insertion. This graphicpoints out many of the key improvements.

DID’s CVN-21 FOCUS Article offers a detailed look at a number of the program’s key innovations, as well as a list of relevant contract awards and events.